An international manhunt is under way to identify the British militant who
beheaded American journalist James Foley, with sources suggesting he is a
London-born fanatic called John

The jihadist who beheaded the American journalist James Foley is believed to be British born militant from London who calls himself John, it can be revealed.

Intelligence agents in the UK and United States are urgently looking into reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) fighter, whose brutal actions shocked the world, is the ringleader of group of British jihadists who have specialised in hostage taking.

Based in the Isil stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, ‘John’, is described as a well-educated, intelligent, but highly committed member of the extremist terror group.

Further down we take a look at the profile of some of the Britons who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to take up arms

Experts warned that British extremists fighting across Iraq and Syria were among the most “vicious and callous” killers in the region.

Shiraz Maher, of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College, London, said the more than 500 Britons known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq have become more “brazen” and “arrogant” in recent months.

The beheading of Mr Foley at the hands of a British jihadist suggests militants from the UK are no longer merely foot soldiers within Isil, but have worked their way up to senior positions within the organisation.

Another Briton, Waheed Majeed, carried out a suicide bombing in Syria earlier this year.

Mr Maher also warned that their bloodthirstiness meant they would pose a “very real threat” in the UK if they returned here battle-hardened from waging “jihad”.

British police have the names of hundreds of extremists who are known to be fighting with the Isil and other insurgent groups.

Some have boasted on Twitter and Facebook about their involvement, and the security services were last night examining pictures of known fighters as part of the process of identifying Mr Foley’s killer. They include boys and girls as young as 16, a medical student and a Primark shop assistant.

Around half of the 500 who have travelled to the Middle East since Syria’s civil war began three years ago have now returned to the UK.

Mr Maher said: “We have seen British fighters out there operating as suicide bombers, we have seen them operating as executioners. Unfortunately they are amongst some of the most vicious and vociferous fighters who are out there. That is unfortunately just a part of their radicalisation.

“This is the first time we have seen the Isil adopt this rather aggressive, directly confrontational approach to the Western world with the execution of James Foley. If that intensifies, they may look to British fighters within their ranks … to look towards sending some of them back to carry out attacks here. It’s a very real threat.”

Here we profile some of the Britons who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to take up arms.

Abu Abdullah Britani

Abu abdullah al-britani (L)

Britani, 32, is one of ten Britons from Portsmouth to have travelled to Syria to fight for Isil.

He uses Twitter to post pictures of his life as an insurgent, including an image of an automatic rifle hanging on a hook in a changing room, and another of a similar weapon on top of a gym bag.

In one post he wrote: "The children here have hearts of lions. When the helicopters [are] out they still play on the streets pointing their toy guns towards the sky."

He has also used the Ask. Fm chat room website to give advice to would-be jihadis planning on travelling from Britain, including a teenage boy who said he had never travelled alone before and was worried his parents would find out.

Britani assured the boy that when he arrived he would be given an AK47 assault rifle, four magazines of ammunition, a “vest pack” and a grenade.

Muhammad Hamideer Rahman

Muhammad Hamideer Rahman

Like many other Britons, Rahman, 25, from Portsmouth, is believed to have flown from Gatwick airport to Turkey before making the short overland journey to Syria. A former supervisor at Primark, he was shot dead in July.

His father Abdul Hannan, 52, an Indian restaurant worker, said the family received a text message from a friend of his son in Syria saying Rahman was dead. He had told his father he “wanted to become a Shaheed (martyr) for the sake of Allah”.

Mashudur Choudhury

Mashudur Choudhury

Choudhury, 31, accompanied Rahman and four others to Syria in 2013 but returned to the UK and became the first person to be convicted of taking part in terrorist activity in Syria. He claimed during his trial at Kingston Crown Court in May that he never intended to fight, but wanted to move his family abroad to escape what he said were failures in his life in Portsmouth.

But he had talked on social media about dying a martyr’s death, and joked that he and his friends from Portsmouth could form their own group called the al-Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys. He will be sentenced next month.

Iftekhar Jaman

Ifthekar Jaman

The 23-year-old from Portsmouth travelled to Syria last year to join Isil and told the BBC’s Newsnight programme in an interview via the Internet that is was his “duty” to fight because Muslims were being “slaughtered”. His friends Rahman and Choudhury and another man named as Abu Dujana followed him to Syria before he was killed in December.

Salma and Zahra Halane

Salma and Zahra Halane

The 16-year-old twin sisters from Manchester ran away to Syria to become “jihad brides” in July. They passed 28 GCSEs between them and had hoped to become doctors before they left their family home in the middle of the night to fly to Turkey. Their elder brother was already in Syria fighting with Isil.

Jaffar, Amer and Abdullah Deghayes

Amer Deghayes (Vice News)

Jaffar Deghayes, who at the age of 16 became possibly the youngest Briton to travel to Syria, went to the Middle East with his brother Amer, 20, last year from their home in Brighton. Their older brother Abdullah joined them in January but was killed earlier this year.

After Abdullah’s death Jaffar posted a picture of him on Facebook with the message “may the eyes of the cowards never sleep”. Amer, who was fighting with the al-Qaeda affiliated group Jabhat Al-Nusra, appeared on Newsnight via an Internet video link saying he “couldn’t care less” if he was regarded as a terrorist.

Nasser and Aseel Muthana

Nasser and Aseel Muthana

In June it emerged that Nasser Muthana, a 20-year-old medical student from Cardiff, and his brother Aseel, 17, were in Syria fighting for Isil. Nasser appeared in a recruitment video – the first Isil propaganda video produced in English – saying he was being filmed in Syria but promised to take the fight to Iraq. Last week he posted a video of damage done to a Syrian army base saying: “I’m getting good with these bombs.”

Their father Ahmed was told by police in November that Nasser, who he thought was at a seminar in Shrewsbury, learnt his oldest son had been recruited to a terrorist cell in Syria in November, only to find his second son followed him in February. He claims his children have been "brainwashed."

Reyaad Khan

Reyaad Khan & Nasser Muthana

A 20-year-old friend of the Muthana brothers who also appeared in the propaganda video with them, warning he had “fireworks” for the US if they returned to combat in Iraq. Khan, from Cardiff, once talked about becoming Britain’s first Asian prime minister, but now uses Twitter to boast about his role in the “execution” of prisoners in Syria, prompting calls for him to be prosecuted for war crimes if he is ever caught.

Aine Davis

Aine Davis

Born and brought up in Hammersmith, west London, Davis was a drug dealer and gang member who converted to Islam and was further radicalised during a spell in prison.

Earlier this month his wife, Amal El-Wahhabi, was convicted of funding terrorism after she persuaded a friend to fly to Istanbul with £16,000 in her underwear intended for Davis who is thought to be in Syria. When police searched his London home they found speeches by hate preachers Abu Hamza and Anwar al-Awlaki on his iPod.

Abdul Waheed Majeed

Abdul Waheed Majeed

The first Briton to carry out a suicide bombing in Syria, Majeed, 41, drove a truck loaded with explosives into the Aleppo prison in February.

Described as a “very dear brother” by the hate preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, whom he used to drive to a mosque in Crawley, West Sussex twice a week, Majeed killed dozens of Syrians when he carried out the bombing for the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat Al-Nusra group. He had kept in touch with his wife and children in Crawley via Skype, and worked as a contractor for the Highways Agency.

At least 19 Britons, including one suicide bomber, are known to have died in the fighting.